Orchard heater



ORCHARD HEATER Filed May 18, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

May 2, 1933.

Filegl May 18, 1929 W. C. SCHEU ORCHARD HEATER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 714%0/1/ CI 56%,

/WZM/P/ ATTO EYS Patented May 2, 1933 WILLIAM C..SCHEU, F UPLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNO R T0 SCI-IEU'PRODUCTS COMPANY, LTD 03' UPLAND, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATIGN OF CALIFORNIA ORCHARD HEATER Application filed May 18,

This invention relates to orchard heaters adapted for the production of heat by combustion of oil or other liquid fuel, and an important object thereof is to provide an 5 orchard heater having novel features of construction and adapted to operate more economically and satisfactorily, and with more perfect combustion of fuel, than other heaters heretofore used.

A particular object of the invention is to provide improved means for vaporizing the liquid fuel in a fuel receptacle which vapors are drawn from the fuel receptacle up into a stack, where they are burned to completion 5 in the presence of air admitted to the stack.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel and advantageous means for shielding the air admitting openings of the stack, to prevent access of rain, snow or wind through said openings, thus preventing harmful effects of such weatherconditions, both on the heater and on the operation thereof.

An essential feature of the construction by which the improved generation of vapors is obtained comprises essentially a rectangular fuel receptacle provided with a cover, and air admitting and regulating means for admitting a regulated supply of air downwardly into said receptacle adjacent a corner thereof so as to maintain a small generating flame close to the walls of the receptacle at this corner and directed downwardly upon the surface of the oil, so as to vaporize the oil. The heater preferably further comprises a. tubular battle member disposed substantially centrally of said receptacle and having opening means establishing communication between the interior thereof and the space surrounding the same, and a stack communicating with the upper end of the vapor receiv ing space inside said baffle member, and provided with means for admitting air thereto for combustion of vapors drawn upwardly into the stack.

The air admitting and regulating means may advantageously be mounted on the cover of the fuel receptacle adjacent one corner thereof, being provided with openings for admitting air downwardly in close proximity 1929. Serial No. 364,127;

to one or both of the side walls of the recep tacle at said corner.- i

The opening 'means in the central baflle member are preferably provided only at portions thereof which are" relatively remote from the means for admitting air to the re-, ceptacle, and may advantageously be placed substantially opposite, said air admitting means so than an imperforate portion of-said ballie member is disposed directly between'the air admitting means and the interior of said baffle member which tends to prevent displacement of the generating'fiame, by reason of the upward draft, from its proper position beneath the air admitting means. It has been found that with many types of orchard heaters, the draft tends to cause the generating flame to jump from its proper position in the fuel receptacle upwardly'into the stack, and when this takes place the genera- 7 tion of vapors ceases and the heater "is extinguished. The placing of the air admitting means for the generating flame closely adjacent a corner of the fuel receptacle causes the flame to be held in its proper position, due to the tendency of a flame to hugithe heated metal walls adjacent said corner, and the tendency of the flame to jump is still further prevented by the above mentioned position of the opening means in thebaflle member with relation to the air inlet means. This relative position of said opening means also causes the hot products of combustion from the generating flame to pass over a rela tively large portion of the entire surface of the fuel in the receptacle in passing from the point of generating combustion to said ope ing means, thus promoting the maximum evolution of vapors from the fuel.

Many different forms of stack maybe employed in conjunction with the above T described heater, but I prefer to employ a stack having a circular cross section, (for example either cylindrical or conical) and provided with air admitting openings in the wall thereof, and a cylindrical shield surrounding and spaced outwardly from said air admitting openings and connected at its upper end to the stack by a substantially imperforate wall, .100

the lower end of said shield extending below the upper edge of said openingsand being spaced from said stack so as to permit lnflow of air between said lower edge and the stack and through the'annular space between said shield and the stack to the air admitting openings in the stack while preventing access of rain or snow to the interior of the stack and also preventing or minimizing the direct access of wind to said air admitting openings so as to prevent or minimize the deleterious effect of such wind upon the combustionof fuel vapors within the stack.

The accompanying drawings illustrate orchard heaters embodying my invention and referring thereto:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved type of orchard heater.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is. a section on line 33'in Fig. 2, showing the fuel receptacle partially filled with oil.

Fig. 4-. is a vertical section of the air admitting and regulating means taken on line 6L4 in Fig. 2. I

Figs. 5 and 6 are horizontal sections of the stack, taken on lines 5-5 and 66 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section of a modified form of central baflie member.

Fig.8 is a section on line 88 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a vertical section of another modificationof the baffle member.

Fig. 10 is a partial side elevation of the last mentioned form of baffle member, taken in the direction indicated by the arrow 10 in. Fig.v 9.

Figs. 11 and 12 are vertical sections of other possible modifications in the baifie member.

Figs. 13 and 14 are vertical sections of modified forms of stack construction.

The orchard heater shown in Figs. 1 to 3- comprises a rectangular,-and preferably square, fuel receptacle 1 comprising a bottom wall 2 which is preferably dished or inclined' somewhat upwardly toward the center, side walls 3 which are preferably, though not necessarily, flared somewhat outwardly and upwardly, and a top wall or cover member 4- having its outer edges secured in any suitable manner to, and making a substantially tight fit with, the upper edges of side walls and preferably inclined somewhat upwardly toward the center as shown. An opening 5 is provided at the center of cover 1 and a short collar 6 is preferably secured to the cover around said opening. Air admitting and regulating means 15 are mounted on cover 4 closely adjacent one corner thereof, so as to admit air, in regulated quantity, downwardly close to the side walls at saidcorner. Said air admitting means may comprise an opening 16 in the cover, surrounded by an upwardly projecting collar or flange 17, a cap member 18 'hingedly mounted at 19 on the cover 4 and extending over and around the collar 17, and a plate 21 pivotally mounted as at 22 on cap 18. A plurality of openings 23 are provided in cap 18, and an arc-shaped opening 24 in plate 2-1 is adapted to be moved into or out of position of alignment with one or more of said openings 23. Plate 21 may be provided with a handle 25 for rotation thereof to regulate the exposed area of openings 23. The side wall 18 of cap 18 extends down below the upper end of collar 17, but is preferably spaced somewhat from said collar, while the lower edge of said side wall is preferably spaced somewhat from the cover 4, by means of a projecting lug 26, as shown in Fig. 1, so that even when all of the openings 23 are closed by plate 21, a limited supply of air is admitted beneath side wall 18 and between said side wall and collar 17.

A tubular bafile member 7 is preferably mounted centrally of the fuel receptacle, with its lower end engaging or extending close to the bottom wall 2 and its upper end extending up through the opening 5 and preferably also extending up inside the collar 6. Said baffie member may be supported either upon the bottom wall 2 or by means of an outward flange 8 at its upper end engaging the top of collar 6. Said tubular baflie member may be of circular or other suitable crosssection and may be straight sided or cylinclrical in shape as shown in Figs. 3, 7 and 9, or may be either tapered inwardly and upwardly as shown in Fig. 11 or flared outwardly and upwardly as in Fig. 12.

Suitably disposed opening means in the tubular baffle member 7 provide communication between the interior thereof and the space surrounding the same. Such opening means may comprise, for example, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 11 and12, a single vertically elongated opening or slot 11 or, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, a plurality of vertically elongated slots or openings 11a andllb. Or, if Ill desired, said opening means may comprise a plurality of perforations or openings 11c distributed throughout any desired portion of the height of the baffle member. In any event, however, I prefer to so dispose the opening means in said baflie member that no portion of said opening means isplaced directly between the air admitting means and the interior of said bafiie member. For example, in Figs. 2 and 3 the baflie member 7 is shown as being placed with the slot 11 therein at the side directly opposite that at which the air admitting and regulating means is located, and in using the forms of battle member shown in Figs. 9, 11 and 12 the opening 1021118 11 and should preferably be similarly disposed. If the form of baflie members shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is employed, the opening 11a is preferably disposed in the position above stat-ed while the openings 11?) i i are spaced 90 therefrom, so that in any case the wall portion 7 of the baffle member, which is at the side towardthe air admitting means, is imperforate. In the baflie means shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the opening 11a is also advan tageously of somewhat greater width than the openings 11?) so as to restrict the passage of vapors through said last named openings, and the major portion or at least a considerable proportion of such vapors are still compelled to pass around the sides of the baflie member and through the larger opening 11a.

The stack is shown as comprising in general a hollow member of circular cross section whose lower end communicates with the upper end of the bafile member 7 said lower end of the stack preferably fitting over the collar 6 and resting upon the cover 4 or upon the outwardly extending flange 6 of said collar, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to permit removal of the stack from the header when desired. The stack shown at 30 in Fig. 3 is of cylindrical shape and is open at its upper end as indicated at 31. Said stack is also provided with opening means such as inclicate'd at 32 and 33 for admission of air at different levels to support combustion within said stack. The opening means 32 are shown as comprising rows of round perforations and the openings 33 are shown-as comprising rectangular openings whose lower edges 34 are preferably serrated as shown, so as to divide the air entering therethrough and cause'better distribution thereof throughout the length of said openings, it having been found that the provision of these serrated lower edges facilitates smooth combustion within thestack. Other forms of opening means may, however, be provided. A cylindrical shield 36 is disposed around the portion of stack 30 in which the openings 32 and 33 are provided, and is spaced from said stack so as to provide an annular space 37 for upward passage of air. The shield 36 extends down below the bottom of the lower group of openings 32, and the lower end thereof is open and is spaced from the stack so as to provide an opening 38 for admission of air to the space 37. The-upper end of shield 36 is connected to the stack by means of an imperforate Wall 39, which may be provided at its inner edge with a flange 40 secured to the stack in any suitable manner.

Another form of stack having shield means in accordance with this invention is shown in' Fig. 13. The stack shown in this figure comprises three telescoping sections 41, 42 and 43 which, when assembled, form a oylindri'cal stack. The lowermost section 41 is adapted to be placed in communication with the upper end of the tubular baffle. member of the heater, in the samemanner as the stack previously described, and is provided with openings 44 for admission of air. The interand surrounds the openings 44. Said shield 46 extends below the openings 44 and provides a protected annular space 47 for inflow of air to-said openings. Ina similar manner the section 42 is provided with air admitting openings 44' while the lower end of the upper section 43 is provided with flange 45 and cylindrical shield 46 which surrounds and protects the openings 44.

The construction shown'in Fig. 14 is similar to that shown in Fig. 13, with the exception that the lower portion of the stack is of frusto-conical shape. The lowermost section 41, intermediate section 42 and the lowerportion 50of upper section 43 are all of frusto-conical shape and adapted to separably engage one another as shown, and are provided with openings and shield means, substantially the same as shown in Fig. 13. The base of the frusto-conical portion of section 41, however, is of somewhat greater diameter than the neck portion 51 which is adapted to be connected to the upper end of the tubular baifle member as above described, and said neck portion may be connected to the lower edge of the conical portion by means of an apron 52 which may, if desired, be provided with additional air admitting openings 53.

Instarting thev operation of the. above described heater, fuel oilor other suitable combustibleliquid is placed in the fuel receptacle 1 up to some suitable level such as shown, for example, at 55 in Fig. 3, such fuel filling the receptacle both outside of and within the tubular baffle member 7. The level to which the receptacle is filled with fuel should be necessary space above the fuel for passage of products of combustion and generated vapors thereover. Considerable variation is permissible in the method of initiating combustion in the. heater. One method which may be used for this purpose consists in swinging back the air admitting device 15 about its hinge 19 and pouring a small amount of gasoline through the opening 16 thus exposed, onto the surface of the fuel, and igniting the same, and pouring a small amount of gasoline or similar readily inflammable material through the upper end of the stack onto the interior walls thereof and igniting the same atthis point also. The air admitting device 15 is then lowered to the po: sition shown in Fig. 4, but the plate 21 thereof is turned to such position as to bring the opening 24 in position to expose a considerable portion of the total area of openings 23, so as to admit a relatively large supply of air for proper starting of the generating combustion. I

Combustion being thus started at the sursufliciently below the cover 4 to provide the face of the fuel directly'beneath the air admitting device, the fuel itself becomes ignitedand a portion of such fuel burns in the presence of air admitted through the openings 23 In general, after the combustion is once started the heatof the flame at this point is sufficient to maintain generation of vapors which rise and are'burned in the space below the opening 16, sothat the generating combustion consists in the burning of vaporized fuel rather than in combustion at the surface of the liquid fuel. The hot products of the combustionoccurring at this point pass over the surface of the oil and around the sides of the baflie member 7 to the opening means 11 or 110 or opening means 11a and: 11?) as the case may be, and the heat of the generating flame and of the combustion gases serves to heat the body of fuel and cause continual generation of vapors therefrom in excess of the vapors which can be burned with the limited supply of air admitted through openings 23'.

These unburned vapors pass around the bafliemember 7 as indicated by the arrow at 57 in Fig. 3 and through the opening means therein into the space 56 within said baffle member and above the oil level therein, said space constituting, therefore, a vapor receivng chamber; Said vapors pass thence upwardly into the interior of the stack, such as stack or any of the other forms of stack above described. If the above describedprocedure is followed these vapors will become ignited in the presence of air admitted through the opening means in the stack, such as opening means 32 and 33. by the burning gasoline in said stack, but it will be understood that any other suitable means may be employed for igniting these vapors and thus starting the main combustion operation within the stack.

The operation of the heater will thereafter proceed in normal manner, it being understood that after the operation is well under way the plate 21 may be adjusted so as to reduce the exposed area of openings 23 and limit the amount of air admitted therethrough, so that just enough airis admitted at this point to maintain a generating flame of" sufficient intensity to cause'the desired rate of generation of vapors from the fuel in the liquid receptacle. The generating flame will continue to be maintained by combustion of a portion of the generated vapors with the air entering through the openings 23. and said- Q 'eneratingflame will be directed downwardlv-closeto one or both of the side walls 3 adjacent the corner at which the a-ir'inlet means is located. so that these'walls will become'highly heated. Said walls help to confine-the generating flame inthe space therebet'ween'. and the-natural tendency of a flame to hug a heated metal wall will tend to hold the flame at this point and prevent the same from ju-mping up into the stack and thus terminating further generation of vapors as sometimes occurs with other types of orchard heater. It will also be seen that the tendency of the flame to follow down along the heated metal walls will cause the same to impinge upon the surface of the oil and promote transfer of heat from the flame to the oil. The heat thus imparted to the oil' from the flame as well as from the hot products of combustion passing therefrom to the opening means in the central baffle member will continue to cause vaporization of portions of the fuel, and these vapors will continue to pass upwardly into the interior of the stack where they will be burned to substantial completion inthe presence of air admitted through the openings in the stack, thus producing substantially complete utilization of the fuel value of the fuel and smokeless operation of the heater,

It will be seen that the relation of the open ing means ll or 110, or 11a and 11b, in the tubular baflie member, to the position of the generating flame is such as to not only pro- Vide for a maximum length of passage of the hot products of combustion over the surface of the oil and consequent maximum vaporization of such oil, but to also assist in preventing displacement of the generating flame from its proper position, as it will be seen that a much greater displacing force would be necessary to cause such flame to follow the somewhat circuitous path required for it to reach'said opening means and pass thence upwardly into the stack than would be the case if such opening means were provided at the side of the'baflle member toward the air inlet means and in a direct line from the position of the flame to the vapor chamber 56.

An important function of the cylindrical shield 36 is to prevent direct access of rain, snow or wind through the openings 32 and 33 or 44 and 44, as it has been found that these elements, if given free access to the interior of the stack, interfere seriously with maintaining'smooth and uniform combustion therein.

I claim:

1. An orchard heater comprising a rectangular fuel receptacle provided with a substantially tight fitting cover, means on said cover'for admitting a regulated supply of air downwardly into said receptacle closely adjacent a corner thereof so as to provide for the production of a generating flame which is retained in such corner by the effect of the adjacent wall portions, and astack communicatingwith the central portion of said fuel receptacle. 7 7

2. An orchard heater comprising a substantially square fuel receptacle provided witha substantially tight fitting cover, means on said cover for admitting. a regulated supply of air downwardly into said receptacle closely adjacent a corner thereof so as to provide for the production of a generating flame which is retained in such corner by the effect of the adjacent wall portions, and a tubular baflie member disposed substantially centrally of said receptacle and having opening means establishing communication between the interior thereof and the space surrounding the same, said tubular baflie member opening upwardly through said cover, said opening means in the tubular baffle member being disposed only at portions thereof relatively remote from the air admitting means and the portion of the baflie member directly between said air admitting means and the interior of the baffle member being substantially imperforate.

3. An orchard heater comprising a substantially square fuel receptacle provided with a substantially tight fitting cover, means for admitting a regulated supply of air downwardly into a corner portion of said receptacle, a tubular baflfl-e member disposed substantially centrally of said receptacle and having opening means in the side thereof establishing communication between the space inside and outside said baffle member, said opening means in the baffle member being provided only at the side thereof farthest removed from the air admitting means and the portion of the baffle member directly between said air admitting means and the interior of the baflie member being substantially imperforate, and a stack communicating with the upper end of the tubular baffle member and provided with means for admitting air thereto for combustion of vapors drawn upwardly into the stack.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day of May, 1929.

WILLIAM C. SCHEU. 

